Only Hope
by madscientistavenger
Summary: Whirled into a world with choke-holding bullies, murderous gods (two too many) and a certain flame-throwing girl who you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of, can two orphans who possess mysterious Tesseract energy suppress an attack by an ancient force wanting revenge? Or will the person they least suspect become their bitter enemy? Disclaimer- I do not own the Avengers.
1. Prologue

**Hi everyone! This is my first Fan Fic so I would usually say don't be harsh, but please be as harsh as you can! I need to improve my quality and you're all too nice. I'm not even sure if this will upload properly. Aargh! Please enjoy!**

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James Anderson walked slowly, deliberately scuffing his trainers on the pavement. He was tall, cute in a scruffy street sort of way and had the type of devilish grin that made old women cross to the other side of the street and shopkeepers look at each other in a 'make sure he doesn't steal anything' kind of way. He had a neglected air about him - not exactly starved, just neglected. He was thin, wore an overlarge jacket and no-brand shoes. His jeans had holes in them, not 'shops ripped these holes I am so cool', but 'I fell off my skateboard and ripped them myself'. And that was how he liked it. Not that he could ever have afforded a skateboard, but anyway.

He headed towards a corner in a graffiti-splattered alley, a grey shopping bag banging against his knee. Leaning against a corner was another person, a girl. She too wore an oversized hoodie that fell to halfway above her knee, dilapidated jeans and no-brand sneakers. She wore a black beanie over her straight blonde hair, which was mussed up in a 'I've just been blasting down the highway at 100 km/hour in a convertible with my hair out… oops' way, though she had never even seen one in her life. James called out to her.

"Hey, Fishtail!"

'Fishtail' looked up and grinned lopsidedly, and made her way towards James.

"Ooh, look." She said, and held up her nails, which had a fish scale pattern drawn on in Sharpie.

"Great, now you're Fish Fingers as well, Minnie." James laughed, messing up his unruly brown hair.

"I'm not Minnie either." Said the girl, playfully punching James' shoulder. "It's Miranda."

"Whatever, Mary." Laughed James. They had a little play boxing match before Miranda asked.

"What's in the bag?"

James swooped down and grabbed the bag, hugging it protectively to his chest. Miranda laughed and tugged on his arm, grabbed the bag, did a little victory lap and emptied the contents. Inside was an iced coffee and two straws.

"You shouldn't have!" Miranda squealed.

"Happy birthday." James replied, pleased that she liked the present.

They walked together, taking sips from the iced coffee.

"You have the last bit."

"No, you have it. It's your birthday."

"But you bought it."

"For you."

"Tell you what, we have it at the same time."

They slurped up the last bit of the iced coffee, and then looked up, straight into each other's gaze. James brushed a stray lock out of Miranda's eyes. They stared at each other, blue eyes against brown. Then the moment abruptly ended.

"What are you two lovebirds doing out at this time of the night?" Growled a voice. They looked up guiltily.

Framed in a doorway was a large woman in a white apron, holding a ladle like a sword.

James hid the iced coffee behind his back. "Can we come in?"

"I was under the 'pression that youse two wanted to sleep outside. Ah well, come on in then."

"And we're not lovebirds."

"Suit yerselves. Dinner's in 'alf an hour. Don' let matron catch yer."

* * *

Fury marched into the SHIELD airship bridge, where Erik Selvig was waiting for him. Disregarding formalities, Selvig led the intimidating director to a bank of computers.

"Ever since the Tesseract incident we've been monitoring the energy signature of the Cube, just in case anything like Loki's sceptre appears back on Earth." Selvig fiddled with a button on his shirt - he didn't like talking about Loki. "Look at this. We've never seen anything like it before." He pointed out a block of numbers, charts and maps upon the screen. Fury nodded as if he understood what all of the statistics meant, but Selvig saw right through it.

"It's a radioactive signature, too weak to pinpoint yet too strong to ignore. We have no idea what may have caused it, but we need your permission to investigate."

As Fury contemplated, Agent Maria Hill strode over, heels clipping upon the floor, tight bun ever-present and waist bristling with weapons.

"Sir, you said that if we ever needed the Avengers, they'd come back. This is such a time." She said wisely, smiling in an almost comforting, motherly way.

"Right." Fury said suddenly, startling everybody by coming to an abrupt decision. "Stretch our resources. Find every Avenger and call them to the airship." He lowered his tone. "Maria, you get Stark. Selvig, Doctor Banner." He bent his head and touched his earpiece. "Agent Romanoff, Agent Barton. Report to the bridge." He straightened up. "And as for Thor… we'll just have to hope he'll get the call."

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**Well… you be the judge of that little performance. Please review as critically as you want, I won't take it personally. Requests, PMs, I'm all for it.**


	2. The Matron

**Well, this is chapter 2 because I love ya all.**

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"Can I come in?" Miranda peeked through the door.

"Sure." Replied James, crashed out on his bed.

Miranda slipped inside and bolted the door. She sat next to James. Part of their friendship meant that none of them were embarrassed about their little interrupted moment. James looked up at Miranda.

God, he loved how she smiled. Her cheeks pushed up and dimples appeared like magic. Her lips parted just so he could see a few of her front teeth. She was so cheeky and funny and… perfect.

"So, Fishfingers…"

"That's not my name!"

"Miranda."

"Yeah?"

"I'm staaaaaaaarving."

"Pleased to meet you, Starving."

"Absolutely spiffing to make your acquaintance." He put on a goofy English accent. "Wonderfully corking to be in your marvellous presence at last."

Miranda laughed. It sounded like bubbling water. Wait a second, how can laughing sound like water?

"You're always hungry."

"Do you think I should get something from the kitchen?"

"No way! Last time you did that you got into so much trouble!" Miranda exclaimed.

"That was an accident."

"I know, but seriously. Don't."

"Ye Olde Spoilesport."

"Rather be a spoilsport than let Matron catch you."

"Do you think you will get a birthday cake?"

"Nobody gets a birthday cake, unless it gets donated. And that hasn't happened for ten years."

"Hmph."

Suddenly, Miranda bent over, gasping.

"What's wrong? Miranda? MIRANDA?" James shook her.

Miranda straightened up, then collapsed onto the bed, breathing deeply.

"It shouldn't be that sensitive. I think Judith must have been having a steaming shower again." James said anxiously.

"Yeah. Do you think I could use yours?"

"It isn't mine, I'm just the only one who uses the bathroom on this landing."

"Exactly. I need privacy. All of the other locks are busted."

"OK then. Dinner's in fifteen, so be quick."

"Yup."

Once Miranda had gone, James' room seemed barer than usual. The orphanage was always short of money, it seemed, and the Matron believed that none of the little money left should be wasted upon the children. He had grey, peeling wallpaper, a cold iron bedstead and a small wooden closet. He never bothered to decorate the walls much, apart from one photograph with him and Miranda, side by side, laughing. It had been cut out of the school photo book. He left his bedroom bare just in case someone came to adopt him, which was unlikely. Only the small, cute baby girls got adopted. He was stuck in this orphanage until he was an adult. He had never thought of what he wanted to become. Probably a lawyer, to sue Matron, but he didn't have the grades for it. He had one small fantasy, but he never shared it with anyone, except of course his absolute best friend Miranda Gelim. He took the crumpled poster out from beneath his bed. It was a poster of the Avengers, the greatest superheroes ever. He didn't think he would qualify. How would stealing stuff benefit the people against an army of aliens? Dumb idea. He folded the poster and slipped it back into it's place as Miranda came back in, towelling her hair.

"Um… Fishfingers?"  
"Yeah?"

"Your hair is still green."

"Oh. Whoops." She rubbed at it hard, and a little blond showed through. "Ah well, I'll just tuck it into my beanie or something."

She was wearing the itchy grey uniform of Rainbow Orphanage, a horrid pinafore over a white blouse, with long grey socks and rubbery black shoes. James always thought it ironic that a home titling itself after the spectrum should be such a grey, old place. A bell rang through the halls.

"Hurry!" Gasped Miranda, stuffing the last strand of her hair into her beanie and gesturing for James to change. She then darted up the staircase to her own room. There was a rumble through the home, and doors slammed as all of the children in the home came to stand outside their rooms. The orphanage was three storeys high, a square building with landings wrapped around the inside. The bottom floor was for the dining room and Matron's Lair, the second for boys and third for girls. There were two bathrooms on either side of each floor. If you stood on the second or third floor you could look through a large square opening all the way down. And if you did at this particular time of day, you would see an angry-looking woman, looking upwards and snarling in the most unpleasant way. The Matron, for it was she, ascended to the first floor. She had a black bob, a hooked nose with a mole that made her look like a witch, and she always wore a black dress. She cared for herself and herself only, and expected everybody else to manage. This meant that it was the duty of the nurse and older children to care for the younger ones, for the cook and children to cook, and for everybody to stay out from underneath her big, flat, square-toed feet. Nobody knew why she had taken up a job with children, but all the children who ever met her wished her a painful death. She examined the row of three-year old boys outside the first door. Each room was for a particular age-group. They stood as stiffly as it was possible for five young boys to stand, in their tight grey uniforms. The Matron looked them over, and for once found no complaint. She moved on to four year-olds, then fives. Each group of boys became smaller as she walked along. She came to the six year-olds, and stopped.

"You!" She said in her gravelly tone. "What is your name?"

"T-T-Toby." Stammered the boy.

"SAY IT LOUDER!"

"Toby."

"LOUDER!"

By now, Toby was almost in tears.

"TOBY!" He cried.

"Why are you shouting at me, you rude, ungrateful boy? Do you have any idea how well I feed you? Clothe you? Look after your every need and want? Do you understand, me, Toby?" She spat out the name like poison. "You will wash all of the dishes yourself tonight, you rude thing, and don't dare stop until you are done. If it takes until morning, so be it! Tuck in your shirt! Stop crying at once!"

Toby complied with trembling hands.

Matron huffed, and continued until she stopped at James, the only one of his age.

"You're still here?"

"Yes, Matron."

"Pull up your socks."

"Yes Matron."

"You know what I think, James?"

"No Matron."

"I think that you are too useless and stupid to ever get adopted. I think that you will always have to feed off the good people in society, like me. You are a horrid, despicable, useless little nothing. What are you?"

"Nothing." James said quietly, curling his hands into fists.

"What will you be?"

"Nothing."

"Hmph."

Matron continued upstairs. She yelled herself hoarse at a couple of unfortunate girls, and looked very pleased with herself. She stopped at the last person in line, Miranda. Her mouth twisted into an unpleasant snarl.

"What. Is. THIS?" Spat the Matron, pointing at Miranda's beanie.

"A beanie, Matron."

"You don't think I know what it is? Don't lecture me, missy."

There was a pause. Then suddenly, Matron struck out and slapped Miranda's cheek. It left a burning red mark. Miranda stumbled and fell to the side. The pain made her feel sick. She wanted to wail, and cry, and vomit. It stung, and made her feel dizzy. The Matron hadn't slapped anybody for fifteen years, according to her old room mates. She lay there on the carpet, not trusting her legs.

"Get up!" Shrieked the Matron. "GET UP! Stop your blubbering. You won't get any sympathy from me." Shakily, Miranda stood up. The Matron slapped her hard again, on the other cheek. Miranda just about prevented herself from stumbling another time. She heard the Matron's voice as if on the other end of a tunnel. "Rule-breaking little thing! I'll teach you. I will teach you." For a horrifying second, Miranda thought that she was about to wrench off the beanie and reveal her bright green hair. She would be kicked out, for sure. She had nowhere to go. With what seemed like infinitesimal luck, the beanie was left alone. Instead, the Matron sneered - "If you enjoy breaking my rules so much, then you'll not have any dinner. How 'bout that?"

"But," Miranda said weakly, "you didn't let me have any breakfast either. Or lunch. You can't starve me."

The Matron's eyes popped. "You're telling me what I can and can't do? Ah well then, if that's the case, then I can't let you sleep outside on the porch, and I can't not give you any breakfast, eh? But I'll still do it, eh? EH? Move it." She snarled, pushing Miranda before her and muttering as she shoved her down the stairs. Miranda could almost feel the sympathy, and the rage, bubbling up from the orphans. But they were all powerless. Matron opened the back doors and shoved Miranda onto the porch. Cold, hard stone slabs paved the tiny area that would have been the garden. The metal railings clanged as the poor orphan was thrown against them and left to freeze in the bitter night, with no food, no shelter, and tears stinging her eyes.

* * *

"Anything new on the signature, Doctors?" Fury asked, walking in on Drs Selvig and Banner, the latter having taken a lot of persuasion to re-enter the 'Flying Fortress' and remember the tyrant Loki.

"Yeah…" began Banner distractedly, obviously using a lot of his consciousness trying to shove the beast in his brain back where it belonged… in his brain. "The Spectrometers aren't receiving the signature, because I've calibrated them for the cube, not this. I have to have an example for the algorithm, like I had with the sceptre. This is a similar but also completely different energy." He continued, getting more and more animated, though when he said Loki's name he looked like he was attempting to swallow a whole cough drop. He gestured to screens, which had graphs and coloured strips of light flashing across them. "We came across this energy merely by chance. We could have missed it if the instruments were just a bit less sensitive."

"Good job, gentlemen." Sighed Fury. His tone wasn't even threatening, but it was clear that he wasn't pleased with the vague results. He looked as if he was about to say 'try harder', but he realised that Banner was doing him a massive favour. "Don't be disappointed if it turns out to be nothing. People are experimenting with new energy sources all the time, this is probably just a false alarm."

Bruce made an attempt to laugh, but it sounded pained and he was obviously worried. "Don't be disappointed? I wouldn't be happier if this turns out to be nothing… but I have a hunch it will be."

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**Nup, still no better. Oh well, at least I have you wonderful viewers to tell me just how bad that was. I'll go down on my hands and knees if it means you'll review.**


	3. Shooting Stars

After what seemed like hours, Miranda heard a creak. She looked up. Silhouetted against the light from his window was James. He jumped down a floor, landing as silently as a cat in front of Miranda. His brown eyes were filled with sympathy.

"Look what I brought you." He said, and revealed a scratchy grey blanket - orphanage issue. Miranda took it gratefully and wrapped herself up.

"Oh, and also…" He reached into his pocket and took out a small piece of bread, about the size of his fist. "For you." He held it out to her.

"Thanks." Miranda said, taking the little piece of bread into her cold hand. "But… that means you didn't have yours. It belongs to you." She held it out.

"No." He closed her fingers around the bread. "I won't take it. It's for you."

James huddled up next to Miranda and she leant her head against his shoulder. Miranda devoured the bread and put her arm around his shoulder. They lay like that for some time, comfortable.

"Matron couldn't have thought of a better night to punish you." James said suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"Look." He said, and gestured up to the clear night sky. A light flashed across it. "Meteor shower."

They gazed up, enraptured, as more shooting stars fell, scattering the sky with strips of light. The spectacle was breathtakingly beautiful. As the brightest meteor streaked along the sky, Miranda caught her breath, closed her eyes and made a wish.

"What did you wish for?"

"That we will always be together, no matter what."

"I do too."

"It's freezing out here. You should probably go to your own bed."

"No way. I'm staying here all night long. I'll be gone in the morning, but I'm not leaving you otherwise."

And underneath the shooting stars, huddled together in the night, they shared their first kiss.

* * *

"Director, you need to see this."

"What's wrong, Selvig?"

"We've found the cause of the gamma rays."

"How?"

"Purely by chance, sir. We picked up a large flare of energy and investigated it. We have the location, give or take a couple of hundred metres. And we made a 3-D image of the energy itself. Look at it.

Fury squinted at the screen and saw the rough outline of two people, infused with blue tesseract light.

Natasha Romanoff was at their side at once. She looked at the triangulated map of the 100-metre give or take location. She frowned, then bit her lip, an unusual appearance through her emotional spy mask.

"Do I have your permission to bring them in, sir?" She asked, completely straight-faced again.

Fury turned towards her. "Yes, Agent Romanoff."

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**Please, if you at least the tiniest bit liked or disliked this, review! Reviews are my sustenance. I know the last chapter was really long and this one was tiny but I had writers' block.**


	4. Hope Unexpected

**To celebrate 100 views, here you are! Enjoy and please review. It will only take a sec.**

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Miranda waited outside the front door of the home for James. He ran down, taking the stairs two at a time.

"Let's go." He said and stepped outside. He looked back. Miranda's eyes were wide open, scared.

"Oh, right." He put his hand out. Drops of rain fell into his outstretched palm. "I'll get you an umbrella."

James ran away from the orphanage, rain soaking into his shoes as he splashed through huge puddles, hands in his pockets. He came alongside a row of shops. Walking along underneath the awnings, he came alongside a shop called Auntie's Bloomers. He cringed. What kind of a name was that? Amongst the sickly-smelling flowers, he noticed an umbrella stand. He poked his finger through the small hole in his pocket. Of course he had no money. He looked around. Nobody in sight. He walked back to the door. Just as he was outside, he thought about the umbrella. He wanted it so badly.

The umbrella shot out of the stand and into his hand.

Whoops.

He ran, splattering his legs with mud, skidding to a stop before the home. He held out the umbrella.

"Care to join me on a romantic soaking stroll?" He asked, holding out his elbow and opening the umbrella. Miranda noticed the expensive price tag.

"Did you steal-"

"It was an accident."

"Are you sure?"

"I didn't mean to. It's happening more and more now. Just like you're more sensitive to water. Coming? We'll be late."

"OK." She looped her arm through his and took the shortcut to school, down the sheltered alleyway where they had met each other last night. Just as they were in the middle, there was a thump. Somebody had landed in front of them.

That somebody was dressed completely in black, from head to toe, a tight cat suit shiny with water. They had flaming red hair. The person straightened up.

"The Black Widow?" Miranda whispered. "My goodness, are you the Black Widow?"

"Wait a second!" James gasped. "You're the old girl who used to go to the orphanage ages ago! Natasha! What the hell are you doing here?"

"You're coming with me."

"W-w-with you?"

"Yeah, it's a long story. Anyway, you're getting adopted."

"We-" James was cut short by Tony, in his Iron Man suit, landing in his signature pose (kneeling, one fist on the ground and other in the air) behind them. He had to control himself from going into major fanboy mode.

"Yeah, you're coming with the Avengers." Said the Russian spy casually, flicking a drop of water from her suit. The signal. An invisible gas leaked through the alley, and James and Miranda fell to the ground.

* * *

Miranda and James woke groggily in the helecarrier. The door hissed open and Natasha came in.

"Wait." She said quickly, holding her hand up to prevent them from asking questions or getting up. "I'm not supposed to be here." She squatted down. "You can't tell anybody that I came from the orphanage. Whatever happens, they are not supposed to know. I'll have time to talk to you later. Sorry about putting you to sleep and all."

She turned and headed to the door. In the doorway, she turned around. "Oh, and James, have you asked Miranda out yet?"

James looked slightly embarrassed.

"Get on with it. See ya!" And she closed the door behind her.

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**Ok, review! You know you want to.**


	5. Music

**OK then, I'll be nice and give you a longer chapter.**

_When you're ready come and get it,_

_Na, na na na, na, na na na,_

_When you're ready come and get it,_

_So come and get me, yeah, yeah._

_When you're re-e-e-e-ea-eady,_

_When you're re-e-e-e-ea-eady, eady,_

_When you're ready, when you're ready come and get it, get it!_

_Na, na na na, na, na na na, na na, na na._

Emerson Davies finished the song, dramatically lowered her hairbrush and panted as if in exhilaration. She flashed a flight-attendant grin at her clothes hangers (her imaginary crowd), did a couple of curtseys and placed a hand on her chest, the universal sign for 'Oh My Goodness, I'm So Honoured'.

But as her thrill faded, she got that awful feeling again. That something bad was about to happen. And she was always right. Normally her songs would make her feel better for a while longer. She looked in her mirror. She had long, dark red hair and green-grey eyes. Her eyes were the only thing about her appearance that she liked - her hair felt so gaudy sometimes. In her mirror was reflected her room.

Emerson had every trend, every game, every book and movie that was desirable to make oneself feel 'cool'. She had all of this because her dad was a thief. He would run his bank-robbery business from the couch, while he watched episode repeats and yelled a billion people over the phone per day. Of course, he was a very cautious man, not letting his proceeds near himself unless they'd been run through 5 different Russian Cartels and money-laundering syndicates, minus a 25% commission. He tried not to look too rich, with only a couple of flash Mercedes and one Lamborghini, but he lived a very comfortable lifestyle and Em had inevitably caught on.

Her soft grey eyes scanned the room, as she flopped down onto her bed. She never cared for her stuff. Something broke a couple of times a week, but she could always get another. The only possession she treasured were her earrings. She sadly felt them. They were very pretty, both of them shaped like circles and made out of a crystal which she neither knew nor cared if were diamonds, because she'd love them just the same if they weren't.

"My crystal balls." Her mother had joked, as she had given them to her. "You treasure them, my little soothsayer, and you will know the future."

She had died a week later.

Maybe she had known that she would.

Em certainly hadn't.

She curled herself in a foetal position around her pillow. She was well past the stage of crying, but she always felt achingly sad when she remembered her mother. It hadn't been an accident, when her mother had died.

The bad feeling stabbed her again. She had always been scared of her father being caught. Maybe he would…

And then she heard it. The cars pulling up on the driveway. It took only a glance to discern the truth.

"Daddy! Daddy, it's the police!" She shrieked.

Panic closed in. The house trembled as the door was kicked in and heavy footfalls came up the stairs. Her door was open, and five men came in, wearing heavy black gear and carrying - Emerson's throat seized up - guns. She pressed herself against the wall.

For a while nothing happened. Em considered taking a run, but she was on the wrong side of the room to the door and the windows were locked with a key. Even if she tried to smash them open, she would be shot before she could get out. Em felt the stabbing bad feeling throb. Of course, this was it. The thing she'd been dreading.

A man came in. Her father! He looked scared, but otherwise fine. She almost cried out in joy, but kept it to herself, because a man came in behind him. He was wearing an expensive suit, but a bowler hat kept his face in shadow. He smirked, and then spoke in a heavily accented voice.

"So, here is the little psycic. Tell me… can you read my future for me?" He purred, coming steadily closer.

"Never." She whispered, clenching her fists.

"Well then…" He said, almost level with her. He flicked his hand, and one of the armed men pressed a gun against Em's father's head. "I'll persuade you."

* * *

Only a small jolt told Miranda and James that they had landed. They stepped out on a huge expanse of deck , with the ocean on either side, vast and deep blue. James reckoned it was beautiful, but Miranda was shaking so hard that James put his arm around her shoulders. They were shoved in the back by nameless people, who escorted them in a convoy down some stairs, through endless corridors. Just when James thought that the place was so big he might risk making a runner, they were locked into a room and left alone. They sat on the bare floor.

Miranda was biting her lip so hard it was sore, so James tried to be brave for both of them.

"It could be worse." He whispered, holding her protectively. "At least we know one friendly. Natasha is bound to help."

"James, do you have any water?"

"That desperate, huh?"

Miranda didn't reply, but pushed her head closer into James' thin chest.

"Hey. Hey." He said, alarmed but trying to be comforting. He rubbed her back. "We'll be fine."

They lay like that for a while.

"James?"

"Yeah?"

"You know that game we played when we were little? How there was a jungle in our room and we had to survive inside it until we got help?"

The corner of James' mouth twitched.

"How could I forget?"

"Yeah. We could do that now."

"Okay."

"Well," Miranda started, pulling away from his chest, "first we have to assess our surroundings, and find anything useful."

It only took a quick glance around to realise that nothing would help with a fight against the kinds of people who escorted them to their room. The walls were smooth and black, probably one-way-mirrors, the floor had absolutely nothing useful and the only object was a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Even if he could get up there, what was he going to do? If he smashed it to make a knife, it would break into small, painful shards that would be of no use, and then they'd be in the dark. Quite a discouraging start.

"Then, we have to figure out a plan, and assign roles based on our individual strengths."

"Miranda?"

"Yes?"

"Do you mean, like, a battle plan?"

"Yup."

"We don't have anything to fight with."

"But we have the best defence?"

"What?"

"Well, the enemy can't fight if they have no weapons."

"What do you - oh, no way. Are you saying…"

"Yes."

"Miranda, those are always accidents."

"If you concentrated, maybe you would be better."

James realised she was right. Maybe they could find a way out of here.

"Only take the bullets, because if they hang onto the guns they can still fire them." Miranda said matter-of-factly, as if they were discussing cake for dessert rather than fighting a bunch of armed men with unknown yet probably murderous intentions. They had only had cake once in their lives - an un-iced vanilla sponge with all the culinary values of a seat cushion.

"Yeah. But how are we gonna get out of here?"

"Maybe you could get the door-handle from the other side and-"

But that problem solved itself, because armed men began crashing in.

James acted as if on instinct. Suddenly, all of the lethal-looking bullets from the guns were on the floor around his feet. Miranda gasped.

"Run!" Cried James, grabbing Miranda's hand and elbowing through the crowd of gunmen before they could register what had happened. They crashed through a set of double doors-

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**I'll leave you in suspense! Can you give me a review? Just one little review? It will only really take a couple of seconds to rearrange a set of the 26 letters of the alphabet into something that means that you either like or dislike my story.**

**Note- I do not own any rights to Selina Gomez's song 'Come and Get It' used previously in my story.**


	6. Panic and a Friend

They crashed through a set of double doors-

And found themselves in a huge room, bustling with people with pistols and grenades around their waists.

James silently cursed. He tried to get out back the way they had came, but the other gunmen seemed to have collected their bearings and were pointing rifles at them. James noticed the ammo belt and realised that they were loaded. Simultaneously, the thirty-odd gunmen released the safety, released the spring and loaded the catch. It would have been funny if they weren't in such a position.

Seeing no way out back the way they had come, James and Miranda turned.

The SHEILD agents had stopped their work and were looking with confusion at the spectacle, but that wasn't the reason for Miranda to gasp out in fear.

A man, with a bristly blonde haircut and stocky build, was looking at them in pure distrust and hatred. He had a bow, with an arrow pointed straight at James' forehead.

"Who are you?" He yelled. His grey eyes were filled with anger and pain. "Who are you and what have you had to do with the Tesseract?"

James had never thought the man who's boyish grin and grey eyes were frozen on that poster in his bedroom with the caption 'Hawkeye' would ever look at him like that. He pulled Miranda closer, but she broke away and advanced towards Clint. His focus changed, he switched the point of the arrow between Miranda and James.

"Don't make me shoot the both of you." He tried to shout, but it caught in his throat and came out just as a painful gasp.

Miranda drew closer. James made a little scared noise, as in 'don't go any closer or he'll shoot you', but Miranda paid no heed. Clint realised he'd never have the heart to shoot a 13 year old girl, just like he never had the heart to kill a certain notorious red-headed assassin, but he still held the bow up, even though his arm was visibly shaking.

"Are you the Hawkeye?" Miranda asked.

"A-answer my question first!" Clint said, trying to look tough.

"You wouldn't kill us. Not if you're Hawkeye."

"You don't know what I've been through with the Tesseract. You don't know how it feels to be controlled by that thing!" He said, now with a note of hysteria in his voice. "I swear, I'll shoot if you come any closer. I asked, what do you have to do with the Tesseract?" He repeated, switching his bow again between Miranda and James, daring any of them to make a move.

A hand crept over Clint's shoulder. Natasha sighed and pushed Clint gently away, but he wouldn't budge, so she covered her failed move up by rubbing his arm.

Miranda was about to cry out with joy at even a slightly familiar face, but restrained herself as she remembered what the assassin had said in the quinjet.

"Clint." She said soothingly, draping her locks over his neck as she laid her head over his shoulder. "They're just kids. They have no idea what the Tesseract is. They don't even have the exact kind of energy inside them. I know talking about the cube is painful for you, Clint, but look at the size of them. Let's ask them nicely at first. Put the bow down. You're scaring them."

James was about to get angry at being talked about as if he was a puppy, but he stopped. Natasha had done a huge favour for them. James stepped forward, and Clint flinched, his knuckles white upon the bow, but James took Miranda's hand and retreated to a safer distance.

James looked at the man. He was obviously broken. James wondered what the Tesseract could possibly be and how Clint had been controlled by it, but his derailed train of thought stopped when he heard a cough behind him.

An imposing man stood there. He was tall, completely bald and had an eye patch, from which underneath protruded three faint scars. He looked pretty tough.

"I see you've met Agent Barton." Said Fury, for it was he, with no humour in his voice even though a corner of his mouth twitched.

James didn't know what to say. "Yes… sir." He added, because it felt a little more appropriate considering that this guy was obviously the boss of the whole thing.

"I think a little explanation is in order." He said again in his no-nonsense voice. "Miss Gelim, Mr Anderson, please follow me."

They were about to come when a slightly pot-bellied man shot out from some stairs, breathless, shocking both Miranda and James into a little start.

"We've found another one of those-" he pointed towards Miranda and James- "energy signatures, except it's stronger than before and moving fast."

"Sorry." The Director said, taking a backwards glance at the pair as he went to join the gasping man. "I'll be a moment with Selvig." Then he called out to the agents on the bridge part of the helecarrier- "Look after these two, will you?"

All of the agents stopped what they were doing and stared with their mouths slightly open at the two kids. It was actually kind of funny. James felt like E.T. as he tried to coolly stare down the agents, wondering if they'd ever been kids in the first place and if they'd probably give them a can of pepper spray to play with, considering that there obviously wasn't anything else to do. Fury left with Selvig and the two assassins.

Finally, a woman broke the awkward silence.

"Hello, I am Agent Hill."

"Miranda."

"James."

"I apologise for this," said the woman, gesturing at the agents who were regaining their senses long enough to realise that the carrier was listing slightly "but we really can't let you near the sensitive equipment. Do you think-"

"Wait a second." James interrupted. "Is that Gallaga?" He pointed towards a screen, which an agent hurriedly minimised and brought up an upside-down map of Greenland. "Only, I've never played it and it's apparently really fun."

The agent at the incriminating computer seemed all too happy to give the joystick to the excited James, even though he warned him that he would never beat his high score. With James absorbed in the game, Miranda wandered off.

When she was about at the third bank of computers, another man came running in. He seemed constantly nervous and twitchy, he was rubbing his nose and he had on the largest trousers Miranda had ever seen. He was looking for something.

"Hello, are you lost?" Miranda asked politely.

"Nah, have you seen Fury?"

"Who?"

"The director." Said the man impatiently, shifting from one foot to the other. "Black, bald, eyepatch?"

"Oh." Miranda remembered. "His name is Fury? Cool, I can make up nicknames for him now. And you just missed him, he went off with… um… I think his name was Selvig."

"Ah, OK, Selvig found him." The man went to walk off, then did a double take, pinched the bridge of his nose and turned around. He squinted at Miranda through his glasses as if she was an interesting specimen, then took them off, wiped the glasses on his shirt and put them back on, as if he'd never seen a kid in his life.

"How old are you?" He asked.

"You know, it's rude to ask a woman's age." Said Miranda jokingly. "But I'm thirteen. My name's Miranda. Why?"

"Well…" the man seemed to think about it, and then decide it was rude to say he'd never seen a child on board the ship. He wondered if she was a spy, and remembered Natasha saying in answer to his question-

_"Is she a spy too? They start that young?"_

_"I did."_

"Um… I'm Dr. Banner." He said, avoiding the question and shaking her hand.

"Oh, are you… I mean… I thought you were a bit - greener." Said Miranda.

Banner grimaced. "That's the Other Guy." He said quietly and mysteriously. He thanked goodness that Miranda didn't ask for elaboration. "Well, I'll be seeing you…" He turned on the heels of his brown loafers and strode out, or more like scurried out. He seemed shy and a little insecure, but a generally nice old guy, Miranda thought.

* * *

**Review! I know you're itching to.**


	7. Kidnapped

"The energy signature is so strong, we can trace it almost consistently." Said Selvig, tracking a blue path along the screen with his stubby finger. Then suddenly-

"Where did it go?" Asked Fury, looking at the screen with confused astonishment. The signature had disappeared.

"Aaaah…" Selvig tapped a couple of keys and wriggled the mouse, looking expectantly at the screen. "It's gone. We've lost it completely."

* * *

Emerson crouched in the boot, the musty smell making her wrinkle her freckled nose. She was too tough to be properly afraid, but she was curious. Where was this mysterious man taking her, and how could he know about her 'powers'?

She didn't have much time to contemplate, though, as the car screeched to a stop. The first glare of sunlight blinded her as two men in lumpy gear with plenty of guns frogmarched her down some steps. A lot of steps. Em's eyes adjusted to the gloom and figured that she was in… it looked a lot like a dungeon. From some medieval castle. She shuddered as something glistened and moved in a corner, a toad. But the men marched her onwards, down ever more steps until she came to a small room, badly lit with a lamp that seemed totally out of place in the kinds of surroundings that she was in. A door clanged shut, and she was left in the dark, damp place, hundreds of metres underground. Her situation was so desperate, she felt compelled with the mad urge to laugh. Instead, she went over to the lamp.

Considering there couldn't be a grid or mains down here, Em supposed it would be operated on battery. She was right, a chunky shadow was attached to the flickering bulb. On closer inspection, it was a car battery. At least she'd have light for a longer amount of time than she would if it were a normal battery. She picked up both the lamp and its power source, which was surprisingly light, and took a closer look at the walls of her prison.

The stone was crumbling, but Em didn't dare break it in case she caused a cave-in. Instead, she tugged at the door. A heavy bolt held it in place, but anything is only as strong as its weakest link, and the door itself was infested with wormwood.

She hunted around her cell for a while, until she found what she was looking for. She had seen it when she came in - that stereotypical ankle brace with a heavy ball attached by a rusty chain.

The door trembled. With the second hit, dust began to fall from the rim. She swung the chain by the brace like a wrecking-ball, and managed a small dent, splinters fleeing from the scene.

Em wrapped her hands with her cardigan to avoid the splinters, and plunged her hand into the softened wood. She pushed her slim body through the opening.

* * *

**I have been SO unbelievably cruel. Not updating in ages and then posting this sorry excuse for a chapter? My reasons… heaps of tests and assignments. Sorry. Gummy Bears to all!**


	8. Casual Interrogation

Everybody seemed pretty relieved to have the two youngsters out of the way after the Clint fiasco. They were assigned to a separate room and left alone, though Miranda was sure that there were security cameras somewhere. Nothing much seemed to happen. A couple of people yelled in the distance. They hadn't been specifically told that they had to stay in the room, but Miranda kind of got the message.

After a long while, the door creaked open and Natasha came in. Miranda had no idea why, but she kept quiet, as the redhead clearly had something on her mind.

"Do you have any idea what the Tesseract is?"

James and Miranda shook their heads.

"Good."

"Are you going to tell us, or what?"

"The money's on what, I'm afraid. These are serious interrogators. If you seem in the least bit knowledgeable, it'll seem suspicious."

"Wait… interrogators?"

"Just people to ask you a couple of questions."

"So no thumbscrews?" James piped up.

Natasha made a rare approach into the world of emotion, letting her usual poker face break into a smile.

"Look, kiddos. I like you. But you've gotta be straight with me." She said, letting her expression fall into a neutral state with a little bit of death-glare. "What do you have to do with Tesseract energy? Any energy."

Miranda was about to say 'nothing', but then she remembered. James stealing things. Herself and water…. She looked over at James, and had a silent communication through their eyes.

"No." Said James.

"None at all?"

"None." Miranda clarified.

"Alright then." Said the Black Widow, looking unconvinced. "I'd better be going."

"Wait!" Cried Miranda. The redhead paused, then without looking behind her, stalked out of the door, heels tapping upon the floor.

"Were you gonna tell her?" Asked James anxiously.

"No, I just want to know what is going on. Natasha is good, right? And Dr. Banner-"

"Dr. Banner?"

"Just some guy I met earlier on."

"But he's-"

"Yeah. He's the Hulk."

"Woah. I mean, woah. You met him? And didn't tell me? What's he like? Tell me, tell me, tell me."

"Uh… he's nice."

"That's all you can say?"

"But it really sums him up. He's sweet, and genuine, and a little shy, but he's nice."

"That is not how I expected him to be. I thought he would be constantly angry or something."

"Not even near."

"So we've met two Avengers here."

"We knew Natasha before."

"But we didn't know that she was the Black Widow, did we?"

"I guess so. They aren't anything like we expected. Nat was a homely orphan-"

"-Quoting Anne of Green Gables-"

"-and Banner is twitchy."

"Hm." James lapsed into a kind of meditative thinking. "What are they gonna do with us?" He paused. "That came out wrong. But you know what I mean."

"Do you thin-" She was cut off by the door opening and Fury came in.

"Right." He said with a tone that meant - that's that and it's final, "you're joining our Junior Agents programme, starting today." He didn't say much but there was an implied so that we can keep an eye on you somewhere in there.

Miranda stood up.

"Not to be rude, but this is all a bit sudden. Could you please explain what's going on?"

"I don't think so."

"Why not? This concerns us directly. You kidnap us and then move us to the middle of the sea, then decide you're putting us into this 'Junior Agents' thingo without letting us have a say or collect our belongings. Not that I'd care much for going back into the home but who even are you people?"

"That's classified information."

"Oooh, now I'm scared." Said James sarcastically, moving forward himself. "How cliché can you get? We're not going anywhere 'till we have answers."

"Mr. Anderson, you are both underage and don't have a clue what we are attempting to prevent!" Fury retorted, losing his cool for once.

"That's our point, sir!" Miranda implored. "We have more to do with this issue than even you do!"

Fury sighed, resignation an unusual feat for him. "The Tesseract is a power source. Unlimited sustainable energy. Last year, our good friend Loki, who I'm sure you all know about, stole it and used it to open a portal to transfer an alien army to Earth, take over the world, rada rada rada. Since this incident, we have been monitoring the Tesseract energy signature, just in case somebody else tries to use it. Recently, something came up on our radar. You two. We naturally wanted to bring you here and check to see whose side you were on.

"Eventually, it became evident that you had no idea what the Tesseract was. This was important but we have to monitor you just in case somebody wants to use you."

"That makes a whole lot more sense now you say so." Miranda reasoned.

"Yeah, was that so hard?" James sneered, still peeved at the methods the man with the patch used. "But I have two questions. One, what are you?"

"SHIELD. Strategic, Homeland, Intervention, -"

"Yeah, I lost you after SHIELD."

"What was your second question?"

"Do I look at the patch or the eye?"

"Very funny."

"No, seriously. How did you get it?"

Fury swallowed. A very sad look appeared on his face, almost crumpled. Then is expression turned unreadable again.

"The SHIELD junior agents program. Take it or leave it."

"I'm guessing the latter isn't an option?"

"Too right."

"We'll take it." Miranda interrupted, before the issue turned into a whole macho verbal-muscle-flexing show.

"Hill? Take them to the Junior Agent facility."

Before Hill ushered them away, James thought really hard about how much he wanted to know about this mysterious Fury character.

The trio walked away, as James pocketed Fury's identification and access card.

* * *

**Yes, I completely forgot about Fanfiction. And yes, I hadn't written anything in ages. Is there a way I can apologize?**

***Throws you boxes upon boxes of Poptarts and then runs away at high speed***


	9. Zoe

Emerson knew she was being foolhardy in her precarious situation. If only she could read her own future. She touched her earrings quickly for a little luck that she so desperately needed and held her breath as she stepped into the corridor outside her room.

The first impression that she got was that the corridor was not guarded very well. A single guard stood a long way down the end, leaning languidly against the wall, silhouetted by light from the staircase. Emerson thanked her lucky stars that he hadn't heard the noise as she put her heel gently down upon the wet floor, making a hollow tap because of the water. The guard scratched his ear and moved his arm. Or what Emerson thought was his arm. It was much thinner… a rifle.

Emerson caught her breath and thought about giving up, but she wasn't going down without a fight. The guard was probably half-deaf, Emerson reflected, as she stepped as silently as she could. The corridor felt as if it was growing longer as agonising seconds passed. When she was three metres behind the man she thought about yelling out something, but decided to leave the witty lines to Hollywood and stepped to two. One metre away, the guard turned, and Emerson's heart suddenly throbbed so painfully that it felt like it would burst through her chest. She swung her makeshift wrecking-ball at the guard. He ducked.

She had lost the only thing on her side - the element of surprise - and the chain was coming back. There was no way she could change the direction in time. Her situation was hopeless.

"Stop!" Shouted the guard. He grabbed her wrist to stop her from swinging the chain further. Emerson wriggled for England, but his grip was like a vice as he brought his elbow up to her throat and pushed her against the wall, trapping her other had behind her and stopping her from moving.

"Drop the chain." He said. With a sideways glance at the rifle, Emerson complied. "You want to get out of here?" He hissed. Emerson didn't give any indication.

"Do you want to get out?" He repeated.

She nodded.

"Good you met me then." He said, loosening his hold on her. "I'm gonna get you out of here."

"How?"

"Just follow me."

"Ouch!" Miranda exclaimed as someone poked her arm.

"Sorry Miss Gelim. We're just taking some blood for personal identification and medicinal purposes."

"Yeah, but you didn't need to stab me!"

"Go ahead, Miss Gelim, there are people waiting at the Junior Agent facility."

"Fine." She said stroppily, rubbing her arm with the cotton bud given to her by the nurse. She met up with James and they pushed through double doors.

"Wow." Miranda breathed. A huge place, as large as a plane hangar, dropped out below them, gleaming with metal. About thirty teenagers, dressed in black cat suits, were doing martial arts, contorting others into painful head locks, kicking, ducking, being flipped over and flipping effortlessly back up again. James let out a low whistle.

"Where's the stairs?" Miranda asked, looking around the narrow balcony for a way down to the junior agents.

"There are no stairs." Said Hill, coming up behind them.

"Then how on Earth are we supposed to get down?" James asked. "We'll die if we jump."

In way of reply, Hill pointed towards a thin metal pole that went from the ceiling all the way down to the floor, way below them. She then walked back through the doors. James ran after her, but found that the doors were locked. He let out a volley of swear words that Miranda winced at.

"There's no way out." James cursed. He slapped his hands together and rubbed them together dramatically. "Work that pole, baby."

Miranda laughed so hard she could barely stand. Once she had recovered, she said sensibly- "That's going to be murder on our hands, we're going to have blisters on top of our blisters. At least our legs are protected." She gestured towards the tights of her school uniform, which she still had on.

"Speak for yourself." James said sourly. "I only have shorts on."

"But you have really long socks, and if you're going to slide down the shorts will help anyway. They're long enough."

"Stop being so smart and level-headed." James moaned. "I have to have something to gripe about."

Miranda smiled. "If only we had mulch or bark or something, I know how to protect yourself from blisters with that."

"Will that do?" Asked James cockily, pointing towards a bowl of white powder, probably flour, looking very out of place in the ultra-modern, blank surroundings.

Miranda was about to say 'genius', but though James was smart, he had a planet-sized ego and she made a point of not offering him a compliment. Miranda rubbed her hands with the flour, then streaked them experimentally down the pole.

"Good enough." She said. She then looked expectantly at James.

"Ladies first." He grinned.

"Okay." Miranda huffed, and made to swing her leg over the side.

"Woah! Wait, stop. I'll go first."

"I'll be fine."

"No I can't let you go first!"

"I don't know whether you're being a gentleman or sextist."

"What does it matter?" And before Miranda could protest, he looped his arms around the pole. "Toodeloo." And hopped over the edge.

That was then when he realised how far down the ground was.

"For Miranda." He muttered to himself, gritting his teeth.

The journey down wasn't the smooth slide he'd imagined, but more a desperate shuffle as his hands gripped, burning with friction but his legs dangled and refused to slow his descent. Instead of using his hands, he wrapped his arms around the pole instead and began to slide so fast his heart jumped into his mouth and his head spun. Before he got up too much momentum though, he put his hands back around.

The pain was unbelievable. He felt his skin burn as he tried to stop his downwards trajectory and eventually, after a couple of heart-stopping moments, get his grip again. Having learnt his lesson, he inched down to the bottom and jumped off, so glad to meet the ground he felt like he could kiss it. Instead, he looked up.

Miranda had been nervously watching his hair-raising progress down the pole. Her hair dangled over the edge and her eyes were so wide James could see her the green-blue colour from even this distance. She turned around and disappeared from view.

"Miranda!" James called as he looked at the point where her head had been. "It's safe!" The junior agents stopped their progress and turned to look curiously at the new arrivals.

Then the whole platform began to judder. The whole thing slowly made it's way down as the junior agents completely forgot their exercises and stared in awe. Like an elevator, Miranda and the platform made a controlled descent. When it reached the floor, she hopped neatly off, looking impossibly smug. James had his mouth open. Finally, he managed to say something.

"It's an elevator." He spluttered, so frustrated he could barely spit that out as he rubbed his floury, chafed and grazed hands on his shorts.

"Let's say hi to everyone, huh?" Miranda smirked and brushed behind him. As she did, James felt something hard and rectangular, like a credit card, slip into his pocket. He figured he'd investigate it later.

The Junior Agents looked at the new arrivals as if they were from Mars. Finally, one stepped forwards.

"I see you've passed the entrance test." She said coldly, as if she were accusing them. "My name is Zoe."

Zoe had straight black hair in a razor bob so neat it was as if she had stepped out of the barber's five minutes ago. She was tall, taller than Miranda by about half a head, and had broad shoulders and an imposing physique. Miranda wouldn't harm a fly. Zoe would probably enjoy harming the fly, then go after its brothers and sisters just for the heck of it. On top of that, she had a snubbish nose and narrow black eyes, like she was constantly glaring at everybody. She looked manipulative and sneaky. Miranda and James hated her immediately.

"Name's Miranda." Miranda replied, trying to not start World War III within five minutes of getting there. "This is James. We're new junior agents."

"I've been here for my whole life, so I'll help you." Zoe said.

Get your head stuffed down a toilet.

"That's kind." Miranda replied.

Get out of my face.

"Happy to help."

I ain't scared of you, titchy.

"So where do we go?"

Wanna prove it? I'd beat you any day.

"The dorms are through that door." Zoe gestured.

The torture chambers are through that door.

"We'll go take a look, then."

We'll go set rat traps for you, then.

"Come back soon."

To witness your murder.

James and Miranda walked off.

**Just in case you didn't get some of that, the italics were 'translations' of Zoe's and Miranda's threatening conversation. Sorry if it was a bit confusing. And I uploaded another chapter within a day because I wanted to make up for me being mean and not updating sooner. (:**


	10. You Go On

Emerson fought a stitch in her side as she ran up the endless flights of stairs. Her lungs felt fit to burst and she was seeing smudges, but pure, unadulterated fear pushed her onwards. The young guard led her on, through winding corridors and up flights of stairs. The place was like a labyrinth, she wasn't sure she'd ever get out. Just as she was about to give up hope, the guard ran at a door and pushed it open.

Em felt as if she hadn't seen sunlight in a week. Fresh air flooded into her lungs and tousled her hair, creating a blissful breeze upon her perspiring face. And then there was the bang.

Emerson saw it as if in slow motion. The bullet tore through the young man's chest, coming out from the other side and embedding itself into a tree. She screamed and threw herself down upon the ground next to him, breathing hard.

"There should be blood!" She screamed. "Why isn't there blood? Oh, god, please don't die."

"Go, just go." The guard breathed. "Get out of here."

"No, I'll get you to a hospital. Something, anything. You saved my life."

"Of course you wouldn't leave. I know you." And he took his helmet off. Beneath it, there was red hair… the same shade as Emerson's. "My sister." He said, stroking her cheek. A tear fell upon his hand and he brushed it away. "But I don't have any hope. They'll be on you soon. Don't make me have died in vain. I'll go… on." And he closed his eyes.

Emerson didn't think, she didn't see where her feet took her. She just ran, down the hill and into the forest, the shouts of more guards resonating in her ears.

* * *

Miranda walked into the narrow room. It had been stripped of all luxuries - there was a lumpy bed and a chest of drawers and that was it. She felt a sense of familiarity, this was far too much like her old room at the home. Unsure of whether this was a good or bad sign, she opened one of the drawers, trying to think what she would put into it, when she saw a pile of freshly-laundered and neatly pressed cat suits. But unlike the Junior Agents', hers was white. James stepped into her room a couple of seconds later, also in the same white suit. Miranda thought he looked really cool. James thought he looked plain stupid.

"You have to put these on."

"But why are they white?"

"Oh my gosh, Karen, you can't just ask people why they're white!"

"Ha, very funny."

"It probably means trainee or something."

"Alright." Miranda paused, doing nothing.

"Miranda?" James asked naively.

"I am going to change."

"Yes?"  
"So, unless you're gonna be a perv-"

"Oh right sorry." James said, embarrassed as he backed out of the room.

A minute later, Miranda announced- "Ready!" and leapt outside, doing ridiculous ninja moves. James laughed as she trilled - "Waaaa-ya!" and karate-chopped an invisible foe in the neck, before doing a spinning kick and overbalancing, landing painfully upon the floor. James gave her a hand and Miranda theatrically dusted herself off.

"Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

They stepped into the huge space, which now reminded James more of a coliseum than a plane hangar. And he was determined to be the lion, not the prisoner, thrown in for entertainment. Zoe glared at them with her evilest narrow eyes.

"Finally." She huffed, looking down her nose at them. Let's start. She beat her ham-like fist against her other palm. Then, without any warning whatsoever, she darted forwards, punched James twice in the stomach so that he doubled over, wheezing in pain, and grabbed him in a painful headlock. Then, the next second, Zoe backed off in shock, surprise and was it… fear?

James looked at his hands. There was a gun in them. He dropped it like it was hot coal. The other Junior Agents backed off warily.

James said nothing. He turned away and ran off.

Zoe looked at where James had disappeared, into a separate corridor. She then looked at Miranda.

"What are you playing at‽" She half-shouted in shock. She then seemed to recover. Zoe might have been a bully, but she was smart and she could see that Miranda wasn't armed, or did not appear to be in a position to summon guns. With a growl, Zoe made up her mind to avenge her weak moment and ran into Miranda, flipped her over her back and twisted her arms into a lock, and with her other arm kept Miranda's head immobile.

With a huge splash, Miranda dissolved into water, breaking over Zoe's meaty arms and hitting the floor, then bouncing up and slithering, defying gravity, back into Miranda, becoming solid.

Miranda was in total shock and looked it. She had turned into water! Her arch nemesis! The thing that tried to suffocate her the second she went under water. The thing that fused her legs together and made her arms flatten, the thing that turned her hair green… without her even noticing. It had just happened, suddenly, and without explanation. The thing that had almost killed Natasha had possessed her again, but this time it had been different.

Miranda turned, and the circle of Junior Agents parted before her like the Red Sea, not wanting to touch her. She fled from the scene after James.

* * *

**Why did I kill a main character's long removed brother?**

**'Cuz I'm ebil! Mwahahaha...**

**I beg, I plead, I fall upon my knees, review! **

**BTW it's my birthday on the 9th, so don't kill me for killing Emerson's brother... not just yet!**

**(Yes, I was born on the ninth of the ninth, nineteen nineteen nine)**

**And Mean Girls references are everywhere on the internet, so sorry if you didn't get the reference.**


	11. Fire versus Water

There was a wailing in the distance. Emerson could only hope that it was an ambulance as she ran through bushes, brambles snagging at her clothes and catching in her hair. Her red hair, the same as her brother's.

Life wasn't supposed to be like this! It wasn't supposed to go swimmingly until she got caught up in a living nightmare. It wasn't supposed to be this… wrong. In books or movies, she would have carried her brother to safety, healed him, brought down the enemy in a stunning display of intelligence and then find true love and live happily ever after…

If this were the movies, her hair would remain perfect throughout. Her tears wouldn't make red blotches on her nose. Her brother wasn't supposed to die in the movies.

But this wasn't the movies.

This was real life.

And there was no escaping it.

There was no turning off the TV, no closing of the book. She couldn't run to her dad in the next room and cry and hold him close, and he wasn't there to tell her that it would be okay, that it was just a movie, because it wasn't okay, and it wasn't a movie.

She blundered onto a footpath, deciding she would stop the first nice-looking person and ask to borrow their phone. But then what?

Would she call her dad? No, because he was probably being watched. The police? That would take too much explaining, and she didn't know where she was anyway. She could be in a different state for all she knew.

So she stuffed her hands into her hoodie, which she was glad that she had been wearing because it was pretty cold, and went forwards at a casual jogging pace, trying to think of what to do and get as far away from that fort place as she could. After the buzz of adrenaline at getting away, everything seemed oddly quiet and peaceful. It was as if there had been a ringing in her ears, but now it had gone and left only a confusing echo behind.

She enjoyed the obscurity of being one person in a crowd, as more and more people swarmed onto the footpath, jostling as they walked forwards, becoming a wave made of bodies. Emerson closed her eyes and let the crowd guide her. She opened them again, now deep in thought. The person next to her stared ahead with blank eyes. He probably took this same journey every day, but he had his own story. Probably love, ups and downs, triumphs and failures. Then his arm brushed against hers, and Em swayed as she felt like she was hurtling through a tunnel.

In two weeks, the man's daughter would develop cancer.

Emerson shook her head to clear it. When she did, she slowed down a little, and the person behind her stepped on the back of her trainer.

"Sorry, kid." He said.

In a month, his sister would be injured in a car accident and be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

Em started breathing hard. The crowd seemed to push harder against her. The woman next to her would be divorced in a week. Two days from now, the kind-faced twenty-something would lose his son and all of his money in a house fire. Death, despair, loss from all sides suffocated her. She pushed hard, anything to get out of the crowd and to the side of the road, which meant safety from all of the horrors of life. She tripped into someone who would be paralysed from a stroke, the man who lifted her up be convicted wrongly and go to jail instead of the person who actually stabbed the tall woman who was holding his hand.

Then a hand grabbed her and guided her to the side of the footpath where she sat on the railing, doubled over with horror.

And then it hit her. She touched the person who had led her to safety.

Nothing.

She couldn't see a future.

"Are you alright?" The person asked, peering concernedly into Em's face. But Em was lost in her thoughts. Was this lack of future good or bad?

"You're hurt!" Exclaimed the person. As tears Em didn't know were there cleared out of her eyes, she saw a kid around her age. The boy glanced around furtively, then looked at the bloody graze on Em's knee where she had tripped.

The skin appeared to knit itself. A last bead of blood sucked itself into her skin and was gone.

"What?" Em gasped, looking at her healed knee in wonder, then at the boy.

Without answering, the kid asked Em - "What are you doing in Ghost Town anyway?"

"Ghost Town? But this town is full of people!"

"Or is it?" The boy retorted. "Look at their eyes."

Em slipped off her perch and looked at a passing woman's eyes. Then another's. And another's.

They were milky grey, swirling and staring, completely blank, with no pupils. They looked completely empty. The kid pulled her back. Em remembered his lack of future, but it was the last thing on her mind.

"Don't let them touch you." He whispered. "You're psychic, right? You'll be really badly affected by them."

"Why? Why are their eyes… why are their futures…" She trailed off, that terrible weight of despair still heavy upon her chest.

"I'll explain." He said soothingly. "I'll explain everything you need to know, but we have to find someplace safe."

* * *

What had happened? Miranda ran, with only one thought in mind.

Find James.

And quickly.

She suddenly felt weightless. She was lifted up into the air, with a strange sensation of desire to go forwards. She fell into James's arms.

"James!" She exclaimed. "Did you - did you just see -"

"Yes." He said, silencing her. "Listen, they've seen what we are, they've seen that we lied, they'll want us. We have to go, now.

"No, you aren't going anywhere." Said a voice.

James and Miranda looked around, but there was nothing to be seen. The voice laughed.

"Try looking here."

Light exploded over their faces, warm flickering light. A ring grew around the couple, a ring of fire.

"You see me now?" The voice laughed again. The fire slithered back around the circle, leaping higher and higher onto one point, then slowly turning opaque in the form of a person wearing a slightly charred Junior Agents uniform. She was dark, with a high forehead that hinted at an Indian background. Her black hair was pulled into a neat ponytail, she had long legs, and her black eyes glinted with some of her former fiery self.

"What were you two dummies thinking?" She hissed, her voice leapt and snapped like fire. Everything about her spoke of fire. Sometimes warm, sometimes harsh, sometimes giving, sometimes destructive in flashes of white-hot anger.

"I-" Miranda couldn't think of what to say.

"Oh, I see, you two are rookies. Have you ever noticed that you can do that before?" She looked at James. "Have you summoned anything before?" Her sharp eyes flicked to Miranda. "What about you? Could you turn into water before today?"

"I've summoned things without thinking before, I guess." James said hesitantly.

"You guess?"

"I have summoned things." James amended.

"And you?"

"It's a long story."

"We have plenty of time. I fried all of the security cameras before even you realised that your boyfriend had summoned a gun, that pig Zoe is still reeling and just in case they get their senses back too soon, I've welded the top doors closed."

"He's not-"

"She's not my-"

"Gonna deny it, lovebirds?" Said fire-girl fiercely, as her eyes flashed. "Fire is the element of passion, I always know. It's actually kind of annoying, listening to all of the couple's soppy head conversations. You wouldn't believe how many people are obsessed with that Beiber… but go on, tell me your long story."

"Uh…"

"Oh, I know. You just said that it was a long story to avoid telling me. Didn't you?"

Miranda was annoyed at how well this girl could read her mind. "Okay, here's your story. From when I was little, when I touched water I suddenly couldn't breathe. I just get suffocated until I dry myself off. My hair also turns green and my legs start to fuse together and-" She tried to stop herself from crying. She wasn't sad! And she was also scared of what would happen if she did cry.

"Any way, once I turned into that water-person you saw before and almost killed someone. I couldn't control myself anymore. That person ran away and became an assassin."

"That explains it." The other girl whispered.

"Explains what?"

"Did you try to kill Natasha Romanoff by any chance?"

"Yeah, it was her."

She let out a low whistle. "That explains why Romanoff is scared of water."

"She is? But the Black Widow isn't scared of anything!"

"She'll tell you that, until it comes to going to a swimming pool."

"No way."

"Yes way." The girl's head snapped around. "Damn." She muttered. "I'm needed."

"Wait!" James said suddenly.

"Yes?"

"Uh… what's your name?"

"You can call me Ember." And a column of fire obscured her. When the smoke cleared, she was gone.

"Wow, she really likes to make an entrance… and an exit."

"I heard you!" Ember's voice called.

* * *

**I love y'all, so I am updating super quick (for me anyway). I thank all of my viewers and even more, my reviewers. People have viewed everywhere, from USA, to the Netherlands (I'm Dutch as well, so I love you guys), and ****_Bermuda_****. So... wowzie. Thanks. :3 Please review!**


	12. The Town of Lost Hopes

"So your name's Michael?" Em asked, limply stirring her milkshake.

"Yep."

"What is this 'Ghost Town'? And why can you heal people? Wait, why did you know I was psychic? And why-"

"One question at a time." Michael laughed, his large hand on the countertop casually, like he came here every day. Emerson noticed with a start that he was pretty handsome, with his caramel-brown skin and sun-bleached hair. "Ghost Town is just my name for this place. It doesn't take much for a person to end up here. They just have to be lost at the time, and they have to have a whole lot of bad things happening to them before they get here, and not much hope for the future. If you were one of people here, say who'd lost family members and was going to be disabled for the rest of their life, and you were offered eternal peace, what would you say?"

"I'd probably say yes."

"And if you do, you become a member of the Town. You lose all hope, but all unhappiness, all feeling in general. The Mayor of this town will manipulate you by showing you your future as well, in hopes that you won't want to go through that and will join the Town. The people here go through the motions of life for eternity. This place is unchartered, you have to go through the special circumstances to see the town. Instead, the people are recorded as missing, or suicides with no body found, or murders."

"Is there a cure?" Em breathed, feeling awful for all of the lost hopes, while her own pressed against her heart.

"The Mayor says that after a while of being a Grey, which is what the members of the town are, you come to terms with your past and are ready to face your future. So far, only one person has gone on."

"Who is that?"

"Uh… dunno." He said quietly. Em was under the impression that he wasn't being entirely truthful, but she didn't push it.

"And who is the Mayor?"

"The Mayor only shows their face to the soon-to-be-Greys. She-um, I don't know how she or he looks like." He laughed nervously, combing his hand through his tangle of light brown hair. Em ignored his second blunder, but she had the feeling that he knew a lot more than he let on.

"How come you're here?"  
"Don't wanna talk about it." He sighed, looking away sadly. There was a pause.

"How do you get out if you're not a Grey?"

"Are you really ready to face life again?"

"Yes." Em replied immediately. It was the proper answer, but she wasn't sure if it was the honest one.

"Alright, I'll lead you there." He led the way out of the bustling café and down the street, keeping Em away from the Greys.

"Oh, I forgot to ask." Em said. "Why can you heal me?"

"For the same reason that you're psychic." Michael stopped suddenly. "Um…" He said in a tone that meant he really wanted something but wasn't sure if he was being bad by asking. "Can you… read… my future?"

"I tried." Said Em truthfully. "But I didn't see anything."

"Nothing? Still?"

"I'll try again, I guess." Em said reluctantly. She reached out and touched his hand. Still nothing. And then -

She felt as if she was hurtling down a tunnel. She saw two people standing together, one was wearing a long white dress and the other a black suit. But it was as if through a steamed window, she could only see splotches of colour and nothing clear, like with other people. Then she saw Michael, for she was sure it was him, and another person that looked exactly like him but with longer hair, a sister. The sister had something in her hand. It glinted - a knife. Michael's sister was trying to kill him.

Em broke away. She felt like she was invading Michael's personal life. She looked at him uncertainly.

Michael had just created a future. And what had her mother told her? That people who created futures were dangerous. That they should be avoided.

"Did you see anything?" Michael asked, excited and nervous.

"No." Em lied.

* * *

"Time to face the music, I guess." James sighed, shattering the silence with impending doom.

"Lead the way, captain."

"Ladies first."

"Last time you said that…"

"Fine. We go together."

They walked down the couple of corridors and into the gigantic training area. Ember was standing with a huddle of Junior Agents and looking painfully superior and smug. She flashed them a self-satisfied smirk and inclined her head to the entrance platform, which was descending, meaning they had visitors.

"I have two things to ask." Said Fury furiously, as he stepped off the platform. His voice was quiet, but it carried right through the area. "One, what the-"

Miranda winced at the volley of swear words as Fury's accompaniment looked mildly horrified.

"-just happened, and secondly, who the-"

Miranda sang a song in her head for a while

"-stole my security pass?"

"I can answer that second one, sir." Said James cockily. "It's in your pocket."

"You don't think I've checked there?" Fury asked, punching each syllable with fearsome anger.

"Then check again."

Fury dug his hand into his pocket, and his eyes widened as he pulled out the same security pass that James had stolen, Miranda had used on the entrance platform, and had been slipped back into James' pocket by Miranda.

"I think that clears some things up." James said, unbelievably Tony-like.

"Still doesn't explain why Zoe is losing her mind and babbling about guns and people turning into water."

Miranda and James smiled inwardly - the Director didn't suspect anything himself.

"I think I know what happened." Said a smooth voice. Ember stepped forward, her black eyes glinting.

"You do?" Asked Fury.

"An unfortunate accident. Zoe was demonstrating the proper way to put somebody in a headlock when she slipped and hit her head on the floor. Quite a nasty hit, actually, she went a little odd for a while, muttering to herself, and then she just took off. That's what happened, isn't it?" She glared at the group of Junior Agents, who replied with a chorus of reluctant 'mm's, 'yes's and 'that's right's.

"Well, this clears things up a little." Said Ember smugly, and went back to speaking with her friends.

The platform, which had whirred back to the top door, started descending again. When it hit the floor, Dr. Selvig hurtled out and ran, in spite of his potbelly, to Miranda.

"Permission to speak with her for a moment, Director Fury." The man gasped, then without waiting for an answer, dragged Miranda onto the elevator which shot back up, leaving James and Fury in a shocked silence.

"What was that about?" They asked in unison.

"Where are we going?" Asked Miranda as Selvig ran through the labyrinth of corridors, Miranda having to do a little jog to keep up.

"You'll see." Selvig puffed, and took a right turn a little too fast.

They reached a room with the standard polished metal door. Selvig scanned the pass around his neck onto a touchpad, then again. He cursed and waved it impatiently, and finally a not-so-flattering picture of him popped up onto a screen over the door, bleached by the sunlight from a window. Miranda's stomach did a little somersault as she realised they were about 30,000 feet straight up. Selvig bundled her through the door and into an office chair, so roughly that it skidded a few inches. Selvig placed both hands on either side of Miranda, on the armrests.

"Who is your father?" He asked breathlessly.

"Isaac Robert Gelim. Why?"

But Selvig didn't answer, he instead brushed his pudgy hand through his greying hair and got up to have a hurried whispered conversation with the two other women in the room. They both had brown hair, one had a beauty spot on her cheek and her ruffled hair in a not-too-neat ponytail, the other had curly hair, glasses and a vacant expression. Her nametag was upside down. It said ʎɔɹɐD. Miranda was about 99% sure it meant Darcy.

"Jane." Selvig implored to the other woman, not bothering about whispering anymore. "I said I knew her father. I thought he had been taken by SHIELD or something."

"You mentioned something about a 'pioneer in Gamma radiation' once. You said that SHIELD showed up and he was never seen again."

"But now I understand. It wasn't SHIELD that got him, it was himself. And his daughter was in the next room when it happened. Of course she got some of the blast. Not enough to kill her, though. The energy signature… it all makes sense now."

"Excuse me?" Miranda said loudly. "Sorry to interrupt your not-so-silent conversation but would somebody mind telling me what's going on?"

Selvig sighed. "It's just a theory, Miranda. We aren't sure yet. But we believe we may know why your father and mother died, along with Mr Anderson's parents."

Miranda tensed, on guard about the subject. "They died in a gas explosion. I could have told you that."

"No they didn't." Said Dr. Selvig bluntly.

"_What_?"

"Can I just say, I don't know what's going on either." Darcy said. She started humming.

Selvig drew nearer, looking apologetic at the overly joyful look on Miranda's face. "I'm sorry to crush your hopes, but your parents aren't alive either."

Selvig might have seen quite a couple of things in his life, like the resurrection of Thor, aliens and being controlled by an insane, sadistic god, but he had to witness the moment when Miranda's heart broke. She put a brave face on. Selvig continued.

"Your parents were brilliant people. I knew them. Talented, curious. The best scientists."

"You _knew_ them?"

"Yes. They were close friends. Pioneers in Gamma radiation." He repeated the phrase like he did when asked about the Gelims. "Along with the Anderson family-"

"But that's James' parents!"

"-yes. Now, SHIELD got interested in their work. When the Gelims and the Andersons disappeared, I thought that SHIELD had taken them…" Selvig sighed. "They had talked about something special for a long time. The big one, the last shot. The one thing that would prove or disprove their theories about the Super Serum, the thing that made Captain America what he is."

There was a roaring in Miranda's ears. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Before SHIELD could catch up with them, they ignored all advice. Headstrong people, I know. And they did the test before the calculations were complete, before all of the variables were tested. They all went to a little house on the outskirts of the city, with two young children in tow."

"James and I?"

"Yes. They… they powered the machine. The electricity necessary blacked out the whole city. But the Gamma was too much for human exposure. They were blasted apart without a trace."

Miranda could just imagine it. The four great scientists, clustered around what would have been their greatest invention as it failed. The end of their lives.

"And you and James were in the next room."

"Why didn't we die?!" Miranda blurted out. "We should have. Our parents did. _Why_ didn't we die as well?"

"They must have protected you. When they realised it was going wrong, they must have shielded you. Their last act was to save your lives."

Miranda tried to restrain the tears.

"But it didn't work completely. You still got hit with quite a lot of the radiation. You are your parent's legacy. You are what your parents wanted to be. Wanted you to be."

"I… I don't know what to think."

"I don't know what you would think. It is a bit of a shock."

Miranda nodded.

"But if there is one thing I am sure of," Selvig moved closer to the chair and put his hands on her shoulders, "it's that they would be very proud of you today."

* * *

**My longest chapter yet! Please, please, I beg of you, review if you like it.**


	13. Children of Gods

After a while of walking, Michael drew back. Emerson looked over her shoulder.

"Why are you stopping?" She asked.

Michael shrugged. "You'll know where to go to find the exit."

"But I've never been here before! I don't know where to-" she stopped in her tracks, and her eyes widened. Michael looked smug, but then a little sad. Emerson didn't notice. She paused for three seconds, frozen like a deer in headlights, then suddenly turned right, muttering "this way, this way."

Michael followed her sullenly, his hands in his bomber jacket. There was a kind of longing in his eyes.

"Here." Emerson said, pausing on the top of a grassy knoll dotted with daisies, like the kind of thing you see in storybooks about friendly rabbits. There was a golden door in front of her, completely unsupported and leading to apparently nowhere. She walked around it twice, but there was nothing on the other side, just the slightly glowing golden door. She reached for the handle, but then frowned and turned around.

"Michael? Aren't you coming?"

Michael shook his head. "This is your call, Em. I can't come with you." Behind Emerson, the door flickered, like a guttering candle flame.

"Why not?"

"Uh… I'm not ready yet."

"Then what's that?" She asked, pointing towards another door on the opposite side of the knoll that had just appeared. Michael took it in, his eyes widening. He looked undecided for a moment, then his eyes narrowed determinedly.

"I'm never going back. I'm _never_ going to the real world again. I can't leave."

"Is that your choice, or someone else's?" Em asked, now stepping forwards. The door disappeared for a full second, and when it came back it was with less of a glow, while Michael's door started burning with white light, making it hard to look at. Em stepped towards Michael's silhouette. "You say it like you have no choice. You want to go back! Look at your door!"

The door was casting its golden light everywhere, now bright as the sun.

"I'm not going back if you're not." Said Em decidedly. Her door vaporised, along with Michael's.

"You don't understand why I have to stay. You have a life to get back to in the real world. I don't. My - my family is here." Michael finished sadly.

"Your family! Did they get turned into Greys?" Emerson felt so bad for Michael, but was even more certain that he belonged in the real world.

"No, the opposite."

"What's the opposite of a Grey?"

"Look, I really don't want to tell you."

"Michael, you belong in the real world. You need to get back, and you need to tell me what happened to your family. Wait, how long have you been here for, anyway?" She added suspiciously.

Michael sighed, and sat down on the grass. "Don't judge me, please. I'm nothing like my family. I'm their opposite, I have nothing to do with them."

Emerson sat down as well and crossed her legs. She squeezed his hand and smiled. "I would never judge you, Michael."

Michael looked sadly at the single golden flower between them. There were no flowers like it on the entire hill. He took a deep breath.

"My family owns this town. My sister is the Mayor. She created this town for my parents, she meant well. They had so much hardship in their life." Michael's voice cracked. "My mother is Ran, Goddess of the Sea. My father is a mortal, with a personality after my mother's own heart. They fell in love. And so, when Ran believed that the Gods would surely turn against my parents for their love, God and mortal, my sister used all of her power to transform her parents into Greys and create this town, to ease their pain and keep them safe." Michael looked away from Emerson's shocked expression with his blue-green eyes, those eyes that looked so much like the sea. "But just like the personality of my dear mum, my sister started to get greedy. She saw the potential of a place like this. She made it open to all people who had pain in their lives. When she has enough Greys to make an army, she has vowed to avenge her parents and wage war against the Gods." Michael had a tear running down the side of his face. "She really does mean well! I've tried to convince her not to be bitter, but she won't listen! Please Emerson, don't judge me. You're the only person I've ever told this to. Please, you need to leave this place, but you see why I can't leave."

"I can see why you don't want to leave. But you have to. There's a world out there, it needs you. You can't lock yourself up and never know how to live a real life."

Michael looked up. The door behind him began to flicker to life. "Do- do you think I could go into the real world?"

"Of course." Em whispered, as her door shimmered behind her as well.

"You'll come with me, right?"

Em nodded. "Let's go, now. The world needs you." She smiled a little. "There's nothing to lose."

Michael stood up, and Em copied. It was as if they had known what to do their whole lives. Simultaneously, they turned the handles of their own golden doors, opened them, were engulfed in the golden light and were gone. Nothing remained but two golden flowers, growing underneath where their feet used to be.

* * *

Miranda was still in shock when all Helheim broke loose. Alarms blaring and Thor yelling and the SHIELD rapid response team marching in only to run back out screaming. Anyway, it appeared as if Asgard didn't know about window-glass, or if it did it either had foggier stuff or Thor hadn't been introduced to it for some reason or other.

Probably a good idea if that was the case.

Anyway, Thor had been called to the Helecarrier and though he had been told to come in through the front door, had crashed through a window he had claimed not to have seen and set the air pressure sirens off. Now, this would have been manageable, but the God of Thunder had got a minuscule shard of glass in his hand and, as an instinct flung out the hand to dislodge it. Which still would have been alright, if Mjolnir hadn't been in that hand, and if SHIELD's RR team hadn't come in at that very moment. Thinking they were being attacked by the roaring Thor and flying Mjolnir, they made a decision to rapidly retreat under the threat of a more powerful foe. Which means running off at full speed and screaming at the top of their lungs. However, the issue was resolved, albeit with a lot of yelling over the sudden vacuum.

Miranda stood by James, hurriedly trying to explain to him about their parents, though she didn't feel like she did a very good job because her own mind was still reeling. They had been brought into a meeting room and left to wait for Thor, who apparently would be arriving soon. As promised, the cause of the trouble strode into the room rather proudly, with a smiley face plaster stuck on his right hand looking incredibly stupid beside the impressive god and his armour.

"Lady Miranda, Master James," Thor said, acknowledging each with an inclination of the head "it has become my knowledge that you possess a great power, that of the Tesseract and of the Gods."

"Uh… thanks?" James replied, taken aback by the odd speech.

"But you must be honest. Tell me of the powers you possess and I swear, I shall do everything in my power to help you fight the great foe that has arisen."

"Wait, what foe? Who said anything about a foe?" Miranda asked quickly.

Thor lowered his voice and looked grim. "There are grave things about to happen, my children. A dark and ancient power, believed to be dead is uprising and there are few things mortals may do about this. Yet you are part mortal, part Godchild and stand a chance against this enemy. Now, tell me of your powers."

Miranda and James told him everything, how James would accidentally steal things and Miranda turned into water in Zoe's hold, and including things about their parents, filling in the gaps for each other. Well, almost everything. They didn't think that Thor would be too happy if he found out what had happened to Natasha. And they weren't exactly lying, were they? They simply weren't saying anything at all about it. Thor listened to all of their stories with interest, but said nothing, nor changed his expression until they had finished.

"Is this the truth?"

"Every last bit." Miranda clarified, and then felt a little guilty. She tried to draw Thor's attention to a different topic. "So, could you tell us more about this enemy? We might want to know if we're going to be fighting it."

"A god, believed to have been dead for hundreds of thousands of years and with the power and the wish to destroy the world, disappeared. Nobody knows how or why, but she is not on any realm known at the moment, else we would have discovered her. Now, an unseen force is creating a formidable army in her name. We know not of the connection to this god, but her army is terrible. It is believed to be unbeatable. Friends have fallen before it." Thor looked down at his lap as his voice cracked a little. "But I believe that mortal Godchildren stand a chance that no god holds. We are bound by ancient rules older than the gods themselves. I cannot harm her."

"But then she can't harm you!"

"Her army can."

There was a pause.

"Oh, and why do you keep on calling us godchildren? We're not actually children of gods, and we don't have a godfather either. Otherwise he would have picked us up by now from that orphanage."

"A godchild is one with the powers of a god. They do not have to be the child of one, though they can. I am a godchild, though I am a demi-god by birth."

"Confusing." James muttered.

"What is the name of this evil god you keep going on about?"

Thor looked a little jumpy, as if he was afraid of what he was about to say. He jiggled his knee which caused the hammer to bounce against his chair leg, making an annoying rattling sound.

"Her name is Ran, goddess of the sea."

"But the sea is nice, right? Going to the beach and all… not that I ever have." Sighed Miranda.

"No, the sea has been calm for many years. But if Ran awakens, none will be safe. She has the power to lift all of the water in your realm and make it fall upon one country. She is the mother of raging seas, of floods and tornadoes. If she awakens fully, the sea becomes restless and unsafe, and will grab boats and people into the deep."

"Sounds… promising." James commented sarcastically.

"That is why you must defeat Ran before it is too late. She seeks vengeance and she will get it if she is not kept at bay."

"But how do we defeat her? We're just… us. We couldn't do that!" Miranda exclaimed.

"I myself know not how to defeat Ran. But I know another, learned in the magic arts far more than I, who could."

"And who is that?" Miranda asked, leaning forward expectantly.

"Loki."

* * *

**I don't have any more chapters waiting but I wanted to give this to you ASAP because I had so much stuff to do on the holidays that I couldn't find time. Hope you liked it, please review. Thanks for the massive stream of reviews I just got from Iron Zombie (formerly Avengerlicious). Please check her out.**


	14. Asgard

Emerson stepped onto cold pavement, as opposed to the lush grass of the knoll. The last bits of golden light faded from her hair as she looked around for Michael, who was on the opposite side of the road. He looked pretty confused, so she stepped over the mercifully empty road and over to him.

"You okay?"

"Hm." He nodded, then went back to looking at the ground. It occurred to Emerson that in the Ghost Town there had been no pavement, only grass, on the ground, and it made her wonder again how long Michael had been living in the town. The Norse gods were pretty ancient though, so a couple of thousand years at least. That thought pained Emerson.

"What is this grass? It's all hard, is it dead?" Michael said, looking down at the concrete.

Emerson laughed. "No, it's not grass. It's called pavement, and it's made of… um…" she tried to call to mind what exactly concrete was made of, though she had learnt about it in geology class just last term, "it's made of ground up rocks and sand and stuff, then it's mixed with water and then dries it goes all hard."

"Is that pavement too?" Michael asked, pointing towards the road.

"No, that's bitumen, it's a kind of tar."

Just then, a car raced past, ruffling their hair. Michael jumped back.

"What are those? Leopards? Rhinoceros? Why is it blue?"

Emerson took Michael by the hand, leading him into a nearby McDonalds. "We have a lot to talk about, Michael."

"Loki?! But, isn't he, like, really evil and tried to take over the world and stuff?" Exclaimed James.

"Exactly." Said Miranda. "What makes you say we can trust him?"

"If Ran reaches full power, Loki's life is in just as much danger as yours." Replied Thor steadily.

"How do you know that Loki and Ran aren't in cahoots?" Retorted Miranda, and James nodded.

"As children, Loki made an enemy of Ran with one of his tricks. Ran never forgets an injury, she is not likely to forgive him any time soon. Also, she is in opposition of all gods, whoever they are. We can count Loki as a friend."

Miranda and James didn't exactly believe him, but he had a calming and reassuring tone, and plus they had to trust Loki whether they wanted to or not anyway.

"When you are ready, my children, then simply demand that Heimdall open the Bifrost and he shall heed your call. I shall be waiting in Asgard."

And he jumped through another window, disappearing in a shaft of rainbow light and shattered glass.

"You ready?" Miranda asked James breathlessly.

"As I'll ever be." James replied, trying to fake confidence into his voice.

The Helecarrier was due to make a landing for the occasion of transporting the two to Asgard without more broken glass. They had packed a couple of spare clothes, but they didn't think that was necessary. They were in civilian clothes now, Miranda in jeans and a pretty green top, James in a red t-shirt and black trousers.

"Right. Let's go outside. Thor will be waiting."

They were about to step out of the room, but somebody barred their way. It was Ember.

"Excuse me, but where do you think you two are going?"

"Asgard."

"Yes, I know, but I mean, what on Earth possessed you to go without me?"

"We don't have to take you. This is our call."

"You have no idea how to use your powers properly, nor any idea what you're doing. You exposed people like us." She hissed, while her hands on the doorframe began to smoulder. "You need me."

James and Miranda raised their eyebrows at each other, but it appeared that there was nothing to be done. Ember had her heart set on going and that was that. Also, there were hand-shaped black burns on the doorframe and none wanted to get on the wrong side of Ember's powers.

"Good!" Ember clapped her hands together, making a spark that hissed into the carpet, leaving a slightly smoking hole and a nasty smell. "Let's go!"

Miranda hated the idea of Ember tagging along, she thought as she trudged up the stairs to the roof/deck of the Helecarrier. They reached the top, where Nick Fury and an assembly of a couple of agents wished them luck, including agent Hill and the man who let James play Gallaga. Then they stood quite far back, so that Miranda felt like she was about to blow up. She looked up at the sky, feeling a little stupid.

"Uh… Heimdall? Open the Bifrost."

Nothing happened. Miranda rolled her eyes and made to walk off to Fury, but something slammed into the Helecarrier in a flash of colour and light, all around her. She felt herself split up into tiny particles and spring back together again, then she was tugged upwards, into the sky.

Miranda heard a whirring sound fade as she tentatively cracked open one eye, then another. A burly dark man with squat, golden horns on his head and golden eyes was removing a sword from the middle of the deep bronze, dome-shaped room that she was in as flashes of blue lightning retreated into thin air.

"Ah! You have come, my friends." Thor boomed suddenly from the opposite side of the dome, which Miranda reckoned was the gate to the Bifrost.

"Yeah, we've come alright." James muttered. Bifrost travel didn't seem to agree with him and he looked a little pale. In contrast, Ember was already actively surveying everything, like it was all an interesting diagram.

"The architecture is fantastic." She breathed. "This would have to be hammered out from a plate of solid bronze, yet the walls are completely smooth."

"You like it?" Thor beamed. "Yet, my lady, I have not had the honour of your presence before. Please, tell me your name."

Ember looked very flattered. "My name is Ember." She said.

"Like of fire!"

Ember snapped her fingers, and a small flame appeared inside her palm. She closed her hands around it, and it was extinguished.

"Yeah, you could say that." She remarked casually, taking a sneaky look upwards as if to see Thor's astonished expression. She wasn't disappointed, either.

"Why have I not met you before?" Asked Thor. However, it was Miranda who replied.

"She's just a friend of ours, she's come to accompany us. Now, could we be going? We need to know how to defeat Ran and we won't do it by standing around."

"Of course, my lady, right this way. Heimdall." He nodded to the god.

They walked along the repaired Bifrost, talking to Thor. The place really was amazing at this time of year, with strange, glowing silver flowers laying like a carpet under a tree with greyish wood, burdened with many more flowers, on one side of the end of the Bifrost. The other tree appeared as if it were on fire, but it was just the breeze rippling through thousands of red and gold blossoms upon a charcoal black tree, the flowers with a sweet, heavy scent. Ember was staring at it in awe.

"The Fireflower." Thor smiled. "It has astounding properties. It can enhance properties of fire, and its juices have healing powers." He plucked a couple of the flowers, its scent washing over the group as Thor, with amazing skill for such large hands, wove a couple of springy twigs with the wonderful flowers into a wreath and placed it onto Ember's head. She looked delighted. Even Miranda had to agree that the flowers looked fantastic against Ember's ebony hair.

"And this is Moonlace." Thor gestured to the other tree, which glowed even more in the light of the fading sun. "Just as the moon can control the seas, Moonlace can enhance the powers of water, and can also restore anybody from enchanted sleep."

"Enchanted sleep?" Miranda repeated, raising her eyebrow a little, because that bit sounded pretty lame to her.

"Here." And Thor wove a couple of thin, delicate beams into a wreath and placed it upon Miranda's head, where it made strips of light dance up and down her hair. James had his mouth a little open - she looked captivating.

"I am sorry my friend, there is no tree for thieves." Thor laughed, as he clapped his hand onto James' back, sending him stumbling forwards a little. The group walked on, James massaging his back.

All around the city, beautiful bronze towers seemed kneel towards the great castle in the centre, but Thor was not headed for that. Instead, he strode towards a low block near the outskirts of Asgard, through the strangely deserted streets.

"Why aren't there any people here?" James asked.

Thor looked upset. "They have all retreated indoors in the face of the threat from Ran. There is no doubt that she shall come here first." But no sooner had he said this, a woman ran out from the building closest to them. There was no doubt to Miranda that this woman was a goddess, she was dressed in a floating silk dress, had long flowing red hair and looked beautiful.

"My lady." Thor exclaimed, bowing to her. But the woman looked past him and to the three youngsters. Her eyes widened, but not a word she said. She just spun on her heel and disappeared into thin air.

"Well, that was a nice welcome." Remarked James.

But in about three seconds, when they were about to carry on, the woman rematerialized.

"I apologise that I have not introduced myself." Apologized the woman, sweeping a graceful curtsey. "I am Sága, goddess of messages, my saviours. I am but an obscure goddess, yet honoured to be in your presence."

Miranda thought for a second. She had called them her saviours, and had disappeared, and she was the goddess of messages. Something clicked.

There was a loud rumbling through the entire city, and then all of the gods and goddesses were coming forwards to introduce themselves and thank the three in advance for saving the world, or similar things. They lined the streets, throwing flowers overhead, as the babbling became louder, turning into cheering. A procession followed the four people, and after a while James started to enjoy himself, grinning widely, spreading his arms and winking to the goddesses, who blushed. But as they neared the tarnished bronze block, the crowd became quiet, and dispersed back to their houses before you could say 'Prison'.

They were there.

**Yeah, that was a pretty short chapter, comparatively, but there are plenty more coming. Anybody see the Narnia reference in there? And the Percy Jackson reference. They're pretty close together.**


	15. A Low-Key Meeting

"Well, what do we have here?" Was the first thing Miranda heard from Loki. She rounded a corner in the Asgardian prison and then she saw him.

Thor had arranged for a prisoner meeting room in advance, but the guards had gone a little overboard, or so Miranda thought. The entrance procedures were awful, but seeing Loki was worse.

The man had changed since the battle of New York. His face was pale and more sunken, his eyes were shadowy and hollow and he wore a tight green shirt and black trousers instead of his usual impressive armour. His lips were thin and cracked but they spread into a smile, or more a sneer, when he saw his brother.

What Miranda had thought was a shirt was actually a kind of straitjacket, securing the man's arms around his chair and rendering him incapable of struggle. Golden bands stretched across his chest, restricting him further, and if that wasn't enough two people who looked like giants flanked Loki, making him look small and weaker than he had ever been.

But the man himself didn't seem to care. In fact, the way he was smirking he obviously thought that he had the upper hand.

"Well, what do we have here?" He asked.

"These three are Godchildren." Thor said, gesturing to Miranda, James and Ember. "They need your help." He gave pointed looks to the guards, who released Loki's bonds, and retreated out of the door. Loki rolled up the sleeves to expose his hands, then leaned back as if he had all the time in the world. Miranda, James and Ember sat down opposite him. Now, Miranda could look at him in more detail.

His hair was a little long, touching his shoulders in a black, slightly wavy curtain. He had high cheekbones, his skin was pale and he simply radiated power. But his eyes were the most captivating, of a deep green and still with a spark of his previous mischief and evil.

"You must have come a long way. Such a pity that you cannot possibly succeed."

Miranda shot up. "Hey!" She said. "I don't care if you're a god or what. You destroyed New York, the least you can do is try to help!"

"You have nerve." Loki hissed, his eyes narrowing. Then he smiled widely, chuckling slightly and leaning further back in his seat. "I like that. Fair enough, I shall help you." He came forward and put his hands on the table. Around his wrists were two golden cuffs. "These limit my powers until they create a cell for that purpose. However, there is just enough that can get through so that I can be immortal. I have been siphoning some of that power away, which limits my years but allows me to use a minimal amount of my former powers to create this." He reached into a pocket with his thin fingers and drew out a completely black, perfectly spherical smooth stone. He laid it on the table, where Miranda, James, Ember and even Thor looked at it apprehensively.

The stone was so black it was almost green, and seemed to absorb the light from around it and display it inside the stone. Sparks of blue, red and yellow winked from the sphere, but vanished as soon as you tried to take a closer look. It also seemed to be filled with whisps of smoke that formed shapes and then burst apart to create new ones, shapes like a human face, a castle and - with a chill Miranda noticed a skull, which disappeared as soon as she focused upon it.

"What does it do?" Asked James, quickly snapping his focus back to Loki before focusing upon the stone again.

"That is an Earth Diamond, a device of my own creation. Drop it on the floor, it'll break, and then transport you to somebody who I would like you to meet, and who will give you the answers you seek. Then it will recreate itself in your pocket, and transport you back to the place you left off from. In this case, here."

"But why not use the Bifrost?" Thor asked.

"The Bifrost does not reach that far. It is beyond the reaches of where everybody but myself and her may go."

"Is it Ran?" Miranda asked, putting two and two together.

"Well, that would beat the purpose. No, of course not."

"And why should we trust you?"

"That is the question, isn't it? I suppose there are too many reasons for you not to trust me. But you must, because otherwise Ran will destroy everything. Including myself."

"Right." Miranda took the stone, which to her surprise did not try to kill her, and put it in her pocket. "Thank you for this. For everything." She said sincerely.

Loki looked surprised. It was then that Miranda realised how long it must have been until someone dealt him an honest, kind word. According to Thor when they had been walking along the Bifrost, Thor had always been his father's favourite and had often forgotten Loki. And of course, you don't get much praise during and after trying to take over the world.

Thor stood up to go, and everyone but Miranda seemed glad to get out of the god's presence. Miranda looked back at Loki reluctantly and was about to follow the rest, but Loki called her back.

"May I have a word with you? Alone?"

The door slammed shut, and Miranda felt a little more scared at being alone with the man, even though she felt sorry for him. She turned back, expecting Loki to have some sort of weapon. But he was just sitting where they had left him. He beckoned, and she moved closer.

"You were alone as a child, as well." He stated. It wasn't a question. Miranda nodded. Loki continued - "When you travel by the stone, on the other end? Her name is Hel."

"Hell?"

"You'll understand."

Miranda nodded another thanks and turned to go, but Loki called her back one last time.

"These cuffs, that limit my powers." He said, holding them up. "They let through more power than the Asgardians think." He snapped his fingers, and an electric blue spark appeared, he held them apart, and between his thumb and forefinger, electricity played with a crackling sound.

Miranda whipped around and ran for the door, but the electric spark got there first, crackling around the knob and melting it. Narrowly avoiding touching the molten handle, Miranda looked back at Loki fearfully.

"So foolish of the Asgardians, to put myself and the Tesseract so near." He passed his hands over each other. "But I am grateful. It makes my escape so much easier. Now, if you'll help me with these cuffs."

Miranda saw a lightning-blue cube in Loki's hands, and then everything went black.

* * *

**Dun dun daaaah! Please review! I might give you the next chapter quickly if you do.**


	16. Vibranium

"Dr Selvig?" Fury asked, asked as the man himself ran past him. Fury was worried, he had never seen the man take so much as a hurried step before, but nowadays he was running all over the Helecarrier. He had lost a couple of pounds, though. Selvig backtracked, panting heavily.

"Can't talk now, Director. Banner - found - Tesseract - energy - again - youbeddercomesee -" and he ran off again.

Fury followed with a kind of powerwalk with a bit of an undignified leap-jog thing every couple of steps to keep up with the scientist. Finally, they reached the lab, where Banner was typing calculations into a computer as fast as his hands could move. On the screen behind him, there was that tell-tale blue dot again, signalling Tesseract energy. It was larger than before.

"The energy had disappeared, but it's come back." Banner explained. "They have slightly separate energy signatures, but they-"

"Wait a moment, they?" Asked Fury. Banner looked up, winced, pinched the bridge of his nose and hoisted up his trousers, which were truly massive.

"Yes director. When the energy disappeared, there was just one. Now there are two signatures, who we are pretty sure are people, and they aren't moving. If we were to take them in, now would be a good time."

"No, wait." Fury held his hand up. "Keep tabs on them. See where they're going, what they're doing, I want to know who they are, what they look like. If they scratch their arm I want you two to know why, where and how."

And he turned on his heel and left the scientists.

Emerson had been in the café for about twenty minutes, answering every one of Michael's questions from why everyone was wearing 'male clothes' to the finer points of a car engine. That's why she decided to let someone else's voice take over and told Michael to pay attention to the TV overhead, which had Bugs Bunny playing. Even though the show was for five-year-olds, Michael seemed fascinated.

Then everything went pear-shaped.

"We apologise for interrupting the viewing time with this urgent update." A flustered female reporter said to the camera, cutting off a dazed-looking Elmer Phudd. "But the largest news since the Battle of New York has come to light. In many large country towns across America, people are being thrown out of their homes by a large group of people calling themselves Ran's Army."

The screen switched to a shaky video of about one hundred people with an odd assortment of ancient swords and guns, then of much clearer, steadier footage of an American family, with two children crying after their mother and the father holding a clothes-basket filled with jumbled possessions. Then the screen switched back to the reporter's ear, who had it right up in the camera and was clearly talking to someone behind it. Then she straightened up, looking a little embarrassed, and said - "It has been confirmed that this army is of alien origin." The footage switched back to the first shaky footage which had been steadied by some programme. The reporter spoke over it. "The eyes of Ran's Army appear dead, says one eyewitness who has refused to give her name." The footage froze and zoomed in on a single eye of a person wielding a samurai sword. It was swirling grey.

Emerson stood up abruptly, and her chair screeched back and slammed into an empty table. "We need to go." She told Michael, and grabbed his arm, dragging him outside without paying.

* * *

When Miranda awoke, her head was killing her and her eyes felt fuzzy. That is why it took her a while to focus upon the person in front of her.

That person was dressed in green and gold, and was holding something bright blue in his hands. As Miranda became more aware of her surroundings, she realized that it was night, she was lying on a comfortable bed in a spacious, high-ceilinged room… and the person in front of her was Loki.

Before Miranda could scream, Loki covered her mouth with his hand. She tried to kick him, but realised with a jolt of fear that flipped in her stomach that her legs and arms were strapped down. Loki pressed harder upon her mouth so that her head was forced down. Miranda could not move nor scream. She was completely trapped and had never felt so desperate in her life. Loki put his mouth close to her ear.

"I thought I might awaken you from my control before Thor has to do so. And believe me, that method is unpleasant." Loki gave a low laugh at Miranda's struggles. "Thank you for helping to release me. It was impossible to break the cuffs without my full power, yet you still have yours."

Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in Miranda's head and she tried to dissolve into water like she had done in Zoe's hold, but felt a sharp sting in her chest. Loki was holding the cuffs at her neck and they seemed to work just fine.

"Don't try to escape, it's futile. I wouldn't want you calling on your little friends, would I?"

This just made Miranda struggle harder, but Loki stepped over the side of the bed with one leg and put his knee on her throat, crushing her airway. The pain was unbelievable, and she couldn't breathe at all.

"I said, don't try to escape." Loki hissed. Then his tone changed to hurried, almost desperate. "The stone is still in your pocket. The girl on the other end, Hel, please tell her for me that I am so sorry that I could not be there for her over the last year. And also, Miranda-" it was the first time Loki had used her name, and it gave her a little jolt "-I am sorry that I had to control you with the Tesseract and help me escape, then tie you down. I cannot stay caged up like an animal. I'll repay this favour someday. When you most need it just call my name."

Miranda tried to listen, but there were black spots in her vision and she felt like she was going to faint from lack of air. And for the second time that day, everything went black.

This time, Thor shook her awake. She looked into his bright blue eyes and felt relief, not the unease and fear when she looked into the sea-green depths of Loki's eyes. Loki…

She still felt the ghost of her bonds around her hands and legs, the sting of the cuffs, the hand over her mouth and the knee at her throat, which hurt like a hundred kilogram weight had squashed it flat.

"You were a while having words with my brother," Thor said, "so we came back here in the hope that you would follow."

"Um… yeah, we had 'words'." Miranda said groggily, remembering all of the 'words' that they had exchanged. She was sure that she had lost a couple of brain cells as well, didn't getting nearly suffocated do that to you? She felt like she could sleep for a year. Instead, she took the Asgardian armour from the crook of Thor's arm and was left alone to change.

It actually looked quite good, Miranda thought, as she twirled in front of a full-length mirror. There was a silver chest plate, a chain-mail skirt over a nice swishy blue material and thick blue sleeves with silver bands running down it. She put her hair into a ponytail, which she usually only ever did for P.E, and put on some silver sandals. As a final touch, she laid the still-fresh Moonlace wreath upon her hair and surveyed the effect. Then she made her way outside.

It seemed as if they were in the Asgardian palace, and though she had no memory of getting there, she wished she had remembered because it was beautiful. The outside glowed brilliantly in the morning sun and the inside was grand, lined with mahogany and plush red carpet, with bronze sculptures leaning out of niches and high frescoed ceilings. She thought back to the days of the grey walls and damp wood of the Rainbow Orphanage and out of the two places, the orphanage seemed the most unreal.

Out of her room was a corridor with plenty of doors leading off it. It curved away at both ends, so Miranda couldn't see what was beyond. Then, out of the door directly opposite her came Ember.

She was wearing the same as Miranda, except that the skirt and sleeves were red and she had her Fireflower wreath in her hair. She looked up and down Miranda coolly, but instead of telling her that she looked nice, Ember smiled as if they were sharing a big secret and asked -

"So, what was his name?"

"What?" Replied Miranda, having no idea what she was talking about.

Ember walked over to her ajar door and lightly banged the side of her head against the frame. "The guy. The one you're thinking about. Right now."

Miranda was thinking about Loki. She couldn't believe that she had set a clearly dangerous prisoner free. Why hadn't she tried to fight his control? Why hadn't she called for Thor when she could see that the - Tesseract, Loki had called it - was in his hands?

"No, you're not a bad person." Ember said, as if she could hear everything Miranda was thinking. Actually, Miranda wouldn't put it past her. "I'm sure he's good looking."

'Wait a second,' Miranda thought, 'Ember can hear passion and stuff. She thinks that I met a guy and that I liked him! She thinks that I think I'm a bad person for liking some Asgardian guy!'

"Oh." Said Ember. "So you don't like him?"

"Yes. I mean no. No, I don't like him." Miranda confirmed, so glad that they had that cleared up.

"Oh." Said Ember again, sounding a little disappointed.

"Um, I think I left something in my room." Lied Miranda. Well, it wasn't completely a lie.

"Thor wants us in the arena for some training practise or something, so come down soon. We won't leave without you."

Ember walked off, and Miranda dove back into her room. She made her way to the bed, but saw some movement in the corner of her eye and whirled around suddenly.

It was Loki.

And he had been looking at her concernedly.

But as soon as she saw him, he was gone, so quickly that Miranda doubted she had seen him at all. But just as she managed to assure herself that her eyes had tricked her and she reached the bed, the door slammed shut. And when Miranda turned to see who had shut the door, she realised it was Loki.

"Have you recovered from the headache yet?" He asked, the picture of innocence.

Miranda didn't even think of screaming. He actually sounded as if he cared. So instead she said - "You don't plan to try and kill Thor again, do you?"

Loki sighed and looked down, as if ashamed. "I don't want to be caged up like an animal." He repeated. And then he vanished.

Miranda ran towards her bed and flung aside the covers. And, winking in the light coming in from the open windows, were the cuffs. Loki's cuffs. There was a place on her chest which still stung from the powers of these things.

If somebody found them, she'd have to mention how she had unwillingly freed a murderer. And so she thought of water, imagined it rising up and then sent it crashing down upon the cuffs. Water came out of nowhere, sloshing up the walls, soaking the bed and drenching Miranda from head to toe.

The cuffs themselves lay in the middle of the bed. The edge of one was slightly dented, but otherwise nothing had happened. They were even dry!

Miranda concentrated hard and wiped the walls, wrung out of the bed and dried the carpet. She needed to destroy those cuffs.

"Vibranium." Said Loki. He appeared on the opposite side of the bed. "The cuffs are made of Vibranium."

"Why won't you leave me alone?" Cried Miranda. "You're done here. You're free, you have nothing to do with me! Why did you leave the cuffs in my bed? Trying to let the world know that I freed you? I'm having a bit of a hard time trusting you without you turning up every two seconds." She reached into her old jeans on the side of her bed and pulled out the black stone. "This is going to lead us to a person called Hel, apparently. Well you know what? Take your stone." She tossed it onto the bed. "I don't trust you any more. Take your stone and just go away." Then she turned on her heel and walked out. But when she closed the door she looked back, and Loki had the Earth Diamond in his hand, and his head hanging down.

* * *

**In celebration of the new Captain America trailer, I decided to add a bit about Cap's shield and also a bit of a reason why it didn't shatter under Thor's hammer. Thank you so much for the reviews, you know who you are. Please review this chapter! *puppy eyes***


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